Leiah Figures out the Straw

Well....she finally tasted something sweet. I gave Leiah the opportunity to suck some Iced-Tea from a straw. I wanted to see if she would know what to do if she had the chance to try.

Off to the Capital City - Part 2

Leiah slept though some of the sight-seeing. I guess there is something nice about the gentle rumblings as we push the stroller over the cobble-stone.

In any case, this is Leiah chekcing out the Parliament buildings.



A little later she wanted to sit in the sun and check out all the seniors driving their cars down the main drag.



One sweet lady sat quietly and listened to all that Leiah had to say. Sometimes they both simply sat in pleasant silence.

Leiah particularly like the sun that day as she was sporting her new sunglasses. They didnt fit too well. Either they were too loose and fell off her face or they were too tight that she was not able to open her left eye. She looked cool though.





On the Way home we all fell asleep on the ferry. It was ok becuase only the Pittsburg-Ottawa game was on the BC Ferry's big screen TV.

Off to the Capital City

The three of us decided we needed a mini-holiday so we hopped a ferry and went to Victoria. This was a weekend of firsts for Leiah. First, on the ferry, she was able to play with the other kids up on deck 6


We were all longing to get to the time-share condos in Victoria




At the Condo, Leiah got her own room. Actually it was the Master Bed. We wanted to give her something big enough so that she wouldnt fall off as well as we didnt want to wake her after she fell asleep. Cami and I slept in the living room on the spare bed.


After a great night's sleep we went under water at Victoria's Undersea Gardens. We got to see a live Scuba show - Leiah was facinated with all the fish.




In the background is the Victoria harbour and then the Queen's hotel, the Empress










Friday night Leiah was excited to wear her new Canuck T-shirt as she cheered on the Canucks. We were all dissapointed in Friday night's game.


Being in the Queen's city we wanted to have some Afternoon tea. we ate and ate - I knocked over my full tea cup. Good thing there were two table cloths on this table. It soaked up all the tea so nicely and quickly.

Tiny Olympic Swimmer in the Making

Leiah's First Day in her new BIG Bathtub

First Leiah gets ready by putting on her bathing suit - a cute 2 piece. Her "finding Nemo" swimming diaper was pretty big so it was her tiny bottoms that held everything up.

We put her in her carseat and proceeded to the new big bathtub. Of course she falls soundly asleep on our 7 minute drive so I had to wake her up and get her ready for the new expereince.


The first 7 minutes she quietly took everything in. She just looked around in utter amazement. Once she realised that she was safe and that this was a "fun" expereince - at least for dad, she began to squeal with excitement for the next 15 minutes.

Leiah's Dedication at CLA

On March 25th at the second service at Christian Life Assembly in Langley, We had a formal dedication for Leiah. We wanted to have it at CLA since we had so many friends there. It also provided a place for Leiah's maternal and paternal families to come and celebrate. Cami's dad was the one that prayed for her in the service.



It was a very special Sunday. We were both very moved in the service and back at home. Cami and I have dreams for our little girl and pray into it daily. We see how God has had his hand on Leiah from the very beginning of the journey.


When the service was over we went home for a big party. We had invited all four sets of Leiah's family. I think there were between 50-60 people in our home and we ate food and cake until we could eat no more. It was a wonderful day and a great celebration

Leiah's second set of shots

This past Friday Leiah had her second set of shots. Only three shots this time. Two in one thigh and one in the other. Again, I was the official holder. My job was to hold tightly to Leiah so that the nurse (very friendly and helpful) could execute with the needles.

Leiah has developed her lungs sinc the last set of shots - and she used them. Her recovery time was much quicker this time and both Cami and I did much better as well!!

So that we dont remember these times all too well, there will not be any pics or videos for this post.

Getting Mobile

I think she is beginning to grasp the thought of being mobile. We place her down on her floor blanket and she immediatle rolls over. Now we begin finding her facing the opposite direction from which we first placed her on the blanket. She hasnt figured out how to roll continuosly so she is still always on the blanket.

The 10 sec video shows how she rolls over.

the voice over you hear in the background is Cami asking me about vegetables while i am trying to signal to her that I am capturing a video.

She loves water

We haven’t been able to take her swimming yet but we did the next best thing. No bath in the sink, no bath in her little tub...We filled our soaker tub up with water and then gently lowered her in. She loved the vastness of all the water and after a couple of seconds began splashing away. I picked up a yellow rubber ducky for her earlier that morning so I tossed that in the tub. Holding her on her tummy with my hands, she kicked, and made splashing, swimming motions with her arms as she chased the ducky down. For the next 10 minutes, she chased that ducky around the tub as I moved her back and forth. Every once in a while I pulled her up to sit on my knee on the side of the tub as she panted with excitement. Then she tried to dive back in after the ducky.

ok - So it's been too long

I was at a birthday party over the weekend and a friend of mine came up and gently but firmly stated that I had not updated the blog for a long time. February has been super crazy. Cami had her Birthday, I had my birthday, My brother Magnus and his wife Susan came back from China - all needing big parties. Cami's motto - "any reason to celebrate" It's a great motto.

Leiah's room is still almost ready - I think maybe I am taking my time because I love having her in our room. I can peek over at her any time I want to.


You will notice the cute baby that Leiah is sitting beside at Katie's 2nd birthday party. They both chew on everything so when they sat beside each other they instantly grabbed each others' hand and tried to eat it.

Leiah Speaks to piglet

She continues to grow

We just received this fantastic high chair the other day complete with a five point seatbelt to help hold her in place. As you can see she is still a little small for the chair but she loves it. Now she is up higher and can see as we are working in the kitchen.


Then the other day, we put Leiah on the floor on her blanket. We ran upstairs to get her recieving blanket. When we got back downstairs, Leiah had climbed up onto the couch, propped herself up with a couple of pillows and started reading. She's amazing.

Leiah touches the Pacific Ocean

Today was a beautiful, sunny but cool, day. We thought we would take a walk at White Rock Beach. We started with coffees and then started a nice walk on the water-front walk way. We found the perfect part of the beach for Leiah to touch the ocean. Then we went for fish and chips.

Watching Baby Einstein

3 months old

Well Here are some of the 3 month old pics

Leiah is 3 months old

We took pics but did not have them handy - I will have to update soon so that you can see her 3 month pics. I think that at 6 months I will post all 6 pics so we can all see a comparison.

But instead of not showing any pics, here is a 20 second cute video of Leiah in her car seat

Leiah got her first shots

The first thing the nurse asks is if both Cami and I have taken a Tylenol for the tramatic expereince we will have in watching. She was being funny. nice.

I was the holder. I held Lieah close to me and then supported her leg. She was to get 2 shots in each thigh. The nurse warns us one more time so that we are not surprised, "this is going to hurt and she will cry".

The first shot goes into her thigh and immediately her face turns red, short silence and then a cry that would break any parent's heart. Cami and i did everything to hold back our tears. Leiah looked up at me and if her eyes could speak, said, "dad, why are you letting her hurt me" - or at least that is how I felt.

She did well during the day and needed lots of snuggling.

Another Snowfall

Well, 14 inches fell yesterday...

Last weekend all three of us drove down to Vancouver to participate in one of BC's largest wedding shows. As a vendor there, we received a complimentary room at the Bayshore Inn where the fair was held. The bed was way too big for Leiah who almost disappeared in it.

Leiah continues eat and grow. she now sleeps about 12 hours through the night with 1 feeding about 8 hours in.

The time has come for Leiah's first shots in 2 weeks...none of us are looking forward to it.

Leiah got some cool "batteries required" toys for Christmas that she is still getting used to.

Happy New Year

Well, we are back home after having been with our families over the holiday season. Today we have our pajama day. We always lounge on the first day of the year. Leiah slept 10 hours last night so we feel well rested today.

To begin this year I thought I would post a cute video of Leiah hugging her first teddy bear. She has had many stuffed animals but this is the first one that is small enough that she can get her arms around.

This year again I have some New Years resolutions and as I have done in the last couple of years I have a "to stop doing list". This concept has changed my life

Have a great new year
Patrick, Camilla and Leiah

Happy Last Day of the Old Year

Well, 2006 is almost over and I think it has been the year of the most change we have ever had.




1. We moved...twice
2. Cami started a couple of new jobs and now on Parental leave
3. Pat left CLA and started his own business
4. We adopted a baby.

Of course Leiah has been the highlight of our year. Thanks to all who have been so supportive in our lives. We love you all so much.

Below are some random pics of the holiday season.

Happy New Year to all,
Love Pat, Cami and Leiah